*THIS WORKS FOR US* *We use compostto naturally heat our water tanks all winter long.* We take leaves, wood chips, hay, straw, and any other woody materials collected from around the farm and create a 'compost lasagna' around 2/3rds of the stock tanks. We then place rebar through the side of the stock tanks near the bottom and middle (4 rebar works down to -30F) and we 'supercharge' the compost halfway through winter by adding more urine and greens/chicken manure. *Heat goes to cold, so the HOT center of the compost conducts through the rebar into the COLD water, and causes convection flow to the far top side, and then down and back to the rebar. It is so powerful we can see the water moving with food coloring.* Additionally.....the compost acts as a great insulation barrier on the back 2/3rds of the tank, naturally heating that side of the tank. Our tanks do not start to freeze at the edges until it gets down to -20F, and won't completely freeze until -30F (only a few nights at times) at which time we use electric heaters. I hope our description is sufficient. I apologize we can not provide video/photos for opsec reasons, but we hope to help self sufficent people break free from the international cabal enslaving the world with their treasonous rveenue streams. #SmallHatsFearUs

not only is ssnow not a replacement for water, it cools the animals body and makes it harder for them to handle the cold temps

My fingers are crossed for you buddy. I like seeing you always trying to do better for your self/cows/family.

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks John

I tried the same thing with the air bubbler last winter for my horses waterer it helped a little but still froze up at night. I found what works best for me in northern Minnesota is insulate the tank and cover about 3/4 ofthe top with plywood and hang a rubber flap down in the tank about half way so there is less exposed water to the cold air the water was almost always open and when you add fresh water the next day it helped warm the rest of the tank back up. I still use this for my bull when I have him separated from the cows. Works great and cheap to do

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

Very interesting. I am planning to add a solar heated box around on stock tanks. The bubblier is just extra insurance. Thanks for the input.

@tysonvosburgh5080

2 жыл бұрын

Pics?

@lasalleartteacher4116

2 жыл бұрын

Lazy man ranch I am wondering if you could post a picture of what you are describing with the rubber flap.

Where in North Dakota we winter grays standing grass. Sometimes our cattle graze in 3 1/2 foot snowbanks sometimes almost 4. The cattle do just fine on snow for a water source. Just like the bison elk etc. but if we feed hey snow is not adequate. If you feed hey you must provide water. I have several KZread videos on this subject. Official doesn’t necessarily drink water. Winter grazing cattle don’t drink water either, they take water in with every bite full of grass. I agree with you if you’re feeding hey feed water. If you don’t have electricity there are 3 ways that I know of to keep water on frozen. 1. Propane heater 2. Automatic propane generator. 3. A wood heater. which is maintenance. Thanks for the video👍🏼

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

What you say makes perfect since to me. The person that triggered my snow experiment was feeding hay too. He doesn't realize how dry hay is I guess. I know my cattle are very appreciative of me showing up to water. Thanks for the insight!

@aCycloneSteve

5 жыл бұрын

@@GrazingAcresFarm The system linked below never freezes and doesn't require electricity. The down side is that it is a fixed location that can't be moved. If you want water in more than one location you have to install it at each location. www.horsedrinker.com/products/cattle-waterer/

Jason , I have 2 solar panels connected to a small charge control to a 12 volts deep cycle and and works great. I was going to try a small submersible fountain pump to circulate the water.

@GrazingAcresFarm

Жыл бұрын

I gave up on the bubblier to keep the water from freezing, I switched to a different float valve that has a trickle features and just recently picked up a Freeze Miser to add. Just released a video on the Freeze Miser, you should check it out!!

Time well spent!!! Thank you. I could have access to power for my waters but rather be off grid. Have had big luck with xmas lights. The old style for my well. Not so.ething I can experiment with.... 2 years ago I attempted an aquarium filter which creates flow, however whole thing froze up. And an aquarium heater brings with it an awful smell by morning. Like a turtle bowl. So all epic fails. I like your idea. I'm gonna try it. Thanks. Keep up the videos

Marvellous concept old chap very useful in summer also you will be able to use it as a jacuzzi.it might just work try it and see if it doesn’t try something else until you get what you want I’m not an authority on this matter unfortunately because rarely is this a problem for us,best of luck anyway the answer is there somewhere you’ve just got to find it.🇬🇧👍over and out under and in.

Awesome just what I need to know. Thank , now playing.

@GrazingAcresFarm

9 ай бұрын

Rock on!

depending on your water source, ours is well,as such able to use frost free waters. the ground tile is at least 3 " less than the width of the waterier dug at least 12" below frost line. they have survived even - 40° (true temp brrrrrr) most of ours were Mirafount we got as no electricity needed.

I'm curious how this is working out for you, 2 years later. We have a very small population of animals (2 horses, 2 goats, a donkey, 20 chickens, some dogs and cats...) and to date we've been breaking the ice in the troughs, and then adding about 10-20 gallons of hot water that we fill up inside the house and truck out to the field. My wife calls it hot coffee for 'em. It's just warm enough to prevent the water from freezing back over too quick until BOB (Big Orange Blob) comes out. This winter, I plan to try a pond bubbler as well to try to cut down on the labor of breaking ice everyday. I'll let you know how it goes, sir, and good luck!

I just learned your in Ohio cool. I am here in Western Pa almost the same with the cattle as you.

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

I am in central Ohio.

Also you might want to check out Hair sheep as they create great revenue with little or no maintenance. Good luck!

I installed a 165 watt solar panel 2 6volt golf cart batteries and a 12volt screw in heating element in my 50 gallon rubber maid tank 2" of foam board under the tank 95% of the time here in pa NO ice when it does freeze its thin and theres an 8" clear hole right above the element saved me 40.00 a month

Yacht owners use blubbers under the hulls to keep ice away from the hull. I would run the air through a tube around the edge, held down on bottom of tank so ice never forms on edges. Notice Ice always starts from the edge.

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

Makes since! Thanks for sharing.

@arnoldromppai5395

5 жыл бұрын

yes they do but the motors on those are 220 volt 3 to 5hp and the fan blade is 10 and 12" i know as i sell them, the hang under the boat on 4 chains, you need one for every 25 to 30 feet of boat

I think the bubbler is a great idea. Low speed seemed to produce the same as higher speed, but draw much less power. Plus air is safer that a electric tank heater that could short out and shock the cattle. I am lucky that I have hot water to fill my tank with, plus a back up tank heater (which I only plug in if absolutely needed). I like your idea, and might do the same to mine, but hook it up to my air compressor! Keep us posted on how well it performs

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

I think it will help slow down the freezing if anything. Do you know of Jim Gerrish? He wrote a few grazing books but he also sells a version of the air bubblier. www.americangrazinglands.com/products/12v-water-bubbler I just can't justify the cost. I have a lot less in my setup and that's including the battery. lol On top of adding this to the stock tanks, I plan to try an insulate one of them. I have plans for a solar heated stock tank box that looks promising. I never gave the air compressor any thought, good idea. If a person had a very large air tank and a valve to control the air released you could probably get quite awhile out of it before the compressor kicked back on.

@arnoldromppai5395

5 жыл бұрын

never in 40 years had one short out and even if it did thats what the safety ground wire is for, and little short and it will pop the beaker, you can have a drill in your hand and put it under water and nothing will happen other then pop the breaker and do nothing to you, just make sure it is wired right and the 3rd prong is always on the plug,,, that little bubbler not going to move the water any were close to what is needed, until i put my live bait tanks in the ground they froze solid, even with a 1/3hp motor commercial bait pump

Sounds promising. I wonder if running the air hose thru some black poly pipe would help warm the air a little. Keep us posted.

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

Great idea! I will keep that in mind for sure.

I need one!!!!

Good luck! I’m interested on how your experiment works, I would like to see a parts breakdown on the pump you are using and what solar panel if it works. In central okla I usually just bust the ice every couple of days for them when we have some really cold weather. Looks like your winters are a lot colder than mine!

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

Oh yeah, we get bone chilling here for a few weeks every winter. Though there is talk going around of a warmer than normal winter. I am actually hoping it gets cold because I am sick of battling the mud. We are like 17" above our normal rainfall for the year and it just keeps coming. It's a nightmare trying to do anything in the muck. If this experiment works I plan to do a breakdown on the parts so everyone can build their own bubblier. Jim Gerrish (grazer) sells a winter water bubblier but I could not see paying his price www.americangrazinglands.com/products/12v-water-bubbler

Ps youll need a temp controller probe and a 40 amp relay switch they are cheap though or you can get a 12 volt element with an adjustable thermostat right on it

This exact same kind of setup crossed my mind the other day when I watched ur previous "winter update" vlog with you hatcheting the Ice. I'm skeptical that little pump is going to move enough air to bubble a 100gal tank, though. Google sez there are larger 12VDC ones designed for koi ponds. Mabe that's your move. Good luck!

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

Actually a pretty popular grazer named Jim Gerrish sells water bubbliers for this same reason. I just could not justify the price. Time will tell how well it works.

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

www.americangrazinglands.com/products/12v-water-bubbler

I am very interested in this.

One of the Judy videos was by Justin Rhodes "Greg Judy farms 1600 acres he doesn't own." He talks a bit about equipment and the need to use small cows i.e. less than a thousand pounds. He uses South Poll breed. Good luck!

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

Yes I have seen Justin's video. I've followed Greg Judy for a few years now. We lease our farm land just like he does.

A larger solar panel directly connected to an immersion heater might work. Let the water be your 'battery' in the form of heat storage. Insulate the tub. The 'sweedish homestead' guy on KZread covered part of the top also.

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

I am planning to insulate at least one of the stock tanks. I have plans for a solar heater and it looks promising.

@WorBlux

5 жыл бұрын

Ohio isn't exactly the sunniest place in the winter. And with a PV panel you still need a MPPT or PWM load controller to deliver power adding some cost to the system.

Ha Jason what is the water temp coming out of your Hydrant? If your pipes are deep enough you might have warm water, well maybe 35 to 40 degrees, if you turned your hydrant on and put a valve on the hose bib you could cut the water down to maybe a gallon every 4 or 5 minutes. That hose in the bottom would add enough heat that maybe the water would not freeze. I think I seen your well was in a building. My bees are flying every day but then I am in Dunedin,Florida it started out 68 and got up to 84 today. Jason I always enjoy your videos.

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

Our water is around 35°f straight from the spigot in the winter. I was considering letting it run slowly and fill a tank then setting it up so once that tank is full it drains to another tank but it got complicated real fast. lol It also seemed like it would be a lot harder to move the setup as I move the herd. Our well is underground in an old cistern so it's protected from the elements. Glad yo enjoy the vids and thanks for watching.

At this moment I am looking into Bubblers / Diffusers for a 100 gallon stock tank that sits next to the barn

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

www.americangrazinglands.com/products/12v-water-bubbler

@kiddfamilyfarmllc9962

5 жыл бұрын

Grazing Acres Farm thanks a bunch

Interesting concept I just don't know if that will be enough once we get well below zero. Maybe it can delaying you having to chop ice... it may be worth it! I'm curious to see what happens but I would definitely put a big old air stone in there!

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

This will be used with an insulated stock tanks to better the odds. Time will tell but first we have to get cold. lol So far I am battling rains and mud.

@alexpaulson4597

5 жыл бұрын

Looking forward to what happens! You can have some of my cold! It's been single digits at night and snow! I'm tired of it already.

Man those bees are cool

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

The bees were my first livestock.

The brine jug will work better if the jug is moving or bobbing in the water. The wind blowing keeps the jugs moving which keeps the water from freezing. Me I would add 3 or 4 brine jugs in the same tank and and the bubbler, I bet you’ll get better results.

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I understand the wind is a huge part but that is out of my control. lol I appreciate the insight but I am going to add the bubblier to a stock tank that I plan to insulate. There will be a video on the tank very soon.

Good idea? No idea if it will work, but moving water doesn't freeze some times, so good luck!

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

It will be interesting for sure.

Also fill the gallon jug with s a lt water lower freezing point

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

It was.

How did your bubbler system work?

well did it work? that was 3 years ago. I', looking into a solar tank heater but I', thinking insulatingf the water from the ground and building an insulating housing with a limited access cover all painted black might be cheaper.

@GrazingAcresFarm

Жыл бұрын

No. I switched to the Jobe Topaz float valve with a Freeze Miser. I'll do a video on it soon so you can see my winter setup.

This year ill make the 40.00 a month back this will be year 4 if your careful you can do complete for about 450.00 rarely i have the throw a battery charger on it you can run those elements right off a battery charger its safer than 110 for your live stock and cheaper to run than 110 heater

Any updates will the water stock bubble idea? Curious as I to, am in the same situation

@GrazingAcresFarm

2 жыл бұрын

@Tyson Vosburgh No. I stopped messing with the bubbler and got a Jobe Topaz water valve. It trickles water all the time so freezing has only been a issue a couple times since. kzread.info/dash/bejne/mZ6Ej8eyqqa6Z7w.html

Air is a waste of time. I use a battery power stock thank heater and it works great.

@GrazingAcresFarm

2 жыл бұрын

Fair enough! I am now use the Jobe Topaz float valve to prevent freezing and it's worked fairly well the last 3 winters. It has a feature which allows the water to trickle and moving water can not freeze.

I'm going to switch to a MPPT charge controller it will work better on cloudy days lithium batteries would be the ticket but itll be more than 3 years to start getting your money back!

You are doing well! Really enjoy your grazing techniques. Would recommend to you that you take a bit of time and check out on You Tube Greg Judy's " How to manage your animals in sync with nature." Also how what size of cattle to run on acreage. Good luck on your efforts and enterprise. Frank

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

I love Greg Judy, he has certainly taught me a lot. I will search for the suggested video, thanks!

I can't think of anything besides letting the tanks overflow. If you had metal tubs and were permanently placed you could use a floating flame to do the job. Cowcamp87 on KZread has a video from last winter where he put a metal trash can in a big metal tank and burned wood in it. The trash can floated around like the milk jug and had fire for heat. Probably not suitable for your application though lol.

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

Interesting idea for sure but I can only imagine the trouble the cattle could get into having a floating fire. lol

@MrBubbahunt9

5 жыл бұрын

@@GrazingAcresFarm I heat water while camping with a copper coil and braided metal hoses (from a wash machine )..I have the campfire put the coil in the fire the hoses run to a cooler of water by morning you'd do good to touch it but it's only about 20 gal..it works by convection. ..if you look at how folk use "the snake " method in their can smokers with some charcoal most get a 12_16 hour burn...not a exact way to do it but your a smart fellow and it may give you a idea. ..thanks for the posts

Your bubbler didnt put out a huge amount more of air with the cranking up of the pump

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

It does actually produce more bubbles when cranked up but the video didn't do any justice for it. It also drains the battery faster.

You truly need to insulate those tanks !! This bubbler will not work in. January and February , possibly March ..

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

I did insulate one I just never made a video but I should.

How do I get I to bees

@GrazingAcresFarm

5 жыл бұрын

You would want to start looking at your local beekeeping groups now if you want to get int bees next season. This is because bees are sold in the spring and sell out very fast. You have options though, you can get what is called a package of bees or a small starter hive called a nuc (pronounced like nuke). Personally I would suggest the nuc because packaged bees are shipped from southern states to the north and those bees just are not used to cold weather in the winter. You can start learning about beekeeping on my bee channel kzread.info . If you have more questions, just ask!

S0 cattle need 1 gallon of water per 100 weight a day in the cold and yhey are not going to get that buy licking snow

i dont know how cold it gets were you are you only said it went to -15, well you add wind chill to that on high windy nights and your at a wind chill or -30, so id say your wasting your time, 37 years ago i ran water lines and a 12/2 wire to every area in the fields i would have water tanks, at this time of year it only drops to -15 to -20 so i just leave the rater running slow into the tank, kep in mind in winter i only use 30 gallon tanks, come Jan, i plug in the electric floating heaters and as long as i dont go much bigger the 30 gallons it ices up a little on the edges in -40 -50 night with wind chill of -60 tops, some leave the water running all winter plus 2 or 3 floating heater in there big 200 gallon tanks, other have out door wood furnace that heats there home and shop and thet run the return line up out of the ground and lop it in the tank as they dont want to pay the high hydro bill, keep in mind if you leave the water just running really slow it always has warmer water moving though the tank, and put a over flow hose 2" from the top and lead it off away from the tank 30 feet, so it dont build up with ice on the ground around the tank and cows slip an fall or are to afraid to get a drink out of slipping

Do you have a creek near by? Check out Justin Rhodes video. He has some good ideas. kzread.info/dash/bejne/nIGdr6qYj9y5oMY.html